FOOTBALL

History

The De Smet Jesuit Football Program has a long history of success on and off the field.  The Football Spartans first began play under Coach Bob "the Bear" Christian who led the Spartans to their first State Title appearance against Parkwood (Joplin) in 1975.  Coach Denny Cerneka took over the football program after Coach Christian and led the team to several playoff appearances and became a founding member of the Metro Catholic Conference.  Coach Pat Mahoney took over the Spartans and led them to 5 MCC Titles, 5 Final 4 appearances, and the 1st Football State Championship in 2005.  Coach Robert Steeples led the Spartans to their 1st undefeated season and their 2nd State Title in 2019 and finished as State Runner-Up in 2020.  Coach John Merritt took over the Spartans in 2022 and continued this tradition, taking the Spartans to the Final 4 in each of his first 3 seasons along with winning the MCC Title in 2023 and a 3^rd State Title in 2024.  Along the way Coach Merritt strengthened the programs belief in our core values.  In 2024 The team won the MSHSAA Distinguished Scholastic Achievement Award, reserved for the very best academic teams in Missouri.

Beyond Football, the Football Program is most proud of it's annual "Stuff the Bus" campaign which is a canned food drive held each fall where our Football Spartans collect thousands of pounds of food to donate to local food pantries.